VIDEO From Van Halen I to 1984 (PATCHES INCLUDED)

Probably the best set of presets for VH I've heard to date. Thanks a million Danny.

What pups are you using in your Carvin? Reason I asked is I tried two types of Super Strats, one with an EVH Frankenstein and the other with a DiMarzio Crunch Lab. Surprisingly, I found the Crunch Lab to give me more of that VH1 dirt/grit and was most pleasing to my ears.

Best,
Jean.
 
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Another big thank you for this patch Danny. I am loving it. Fantastic work.

I know you have already done so much here, but would be interested if you ever have time to list out a few of VH tunes you use each scene for?

The one's in the video use both patches of course. Any rhythm sound with no delay from VH 1 to some songs on fair Warning will be patch I scene 4. The patch was created from tone matching Unchained. Patch I can also be used on a few 1984 songs like Panama and any others that had a more abrasive sound. It would be too much to list individual songs....you have to use your ears to hear what works best for you.

Patch II is the warmer VH sound. On this you can plat anything from VHII all through to 1984 also. The patch was tone matched from the Meanstreets intro. It's warmer than the Unchained tone even though it comes from the same album. Also, on the 1984 album, songs like Drop dead legs are not as abrasive and high-end sounding as Panama or some of the others.

If Eddie had a sound that was trebly, patch I is what you use. If it's warmer, use patch II. rhythm sounds on both patch I and II are on scene 4 and scene 7 with chorus for the 1984 era. Scene 5 and scene 8 are lead patches. The others fly in delays. Just quick off the top of my head...

Anything from VH 1: Patch I
You really got me - scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead
Ain't talkin - scene 3 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Runnin with the devil - scene 1 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Eruption - scene 5 with phaser off for first part, phaser on for the second part.
Feel your love tonight - scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead

VHII patch II
Everybody wants some - scene 1 rhythm, scene 4 lead
Beautiful Girls - scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Dance the night away - scene 1 rhythm...no lead in this song.
Everything else should be the same.

Anything off of women and children, scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead. If you need delays, use scene 1. Scene 3 on both patch I and patch II was created for Ain't talkin bout love. so you may never use that one other than for that song.

Fair warning will be the same as above, however, unchained will sound better with patch I scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead since the patch was create from the actual tone match of ed in this one.

Meanstreets will sound better using patch II, scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead.
Hear about it later - scene 2 for intro, scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead. You can also step on the chorus for the lead to thicken it up in that particular solo if need be as he uses one there.

Diver down: use patch II
Pretty woman - there's a little chorus on this, but it's up to you. Sometimes I use a 1984 patch for this, which would be scene 6, other times, scene 1.
Full Bug, scene 2 intro, scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead.
Little guitars - scene 6 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Where have all the good times gone - scene 1

1984- whatever patch works best
Jump- patch II scene 7 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Teacher- same as jump
Panama- patch I, scene 6 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Drop dead legs- scene 7 rhythm, scene 8 lead press one of the delays
I'll wait- same as drop dead

There's a start for you.
 
Danny,I have seen a lot of video, and as always, it's great !
But i have a question very important for me ;)
I saw that your preset are always in stereo.
Actually, i work on my third album, and i always record my guitar rhythm in mono, and sometimes double it at the opposite Pan.
Do you think it's better to record the rhythm track in stereo with the same preset ? i work with Pro Tools.
I don't know if my question is "clear" but i often think that it's easier to Pan the guitar if i record it in mono.
Have you some advises ?

Hi slashy,

I always record two independent tracks in mono and pan them. The only time I use stereo is for lead guitar tracks and video presentations. I only use stereo lead guitar in my recording due to sometimes wanting to record with effect. I know we live in the non-destructive world in recording today, but some plugins will not get me the sounds I can get from some of my hardware devices.

It's also a bad habit of mine due to my older DAW not supporting stereo plugins unless you recorded a stereo track. We now have stereo interleaving that allows for a mono track to auto-support stereo effects. But that wasn't always possible for me and I got used to recording lead guitar tracks in stereo. Little did I know the track isn't in stereo at all, as distortion is not a stereo effect. What was in stereo IMAGING were the effects I used. True stereo means two independent channels of slightly different information, while doing the same thing. This is why it sounds so good when we play two guitar tracks in mono and split them left/right. The human timing inconsistencies help create stereo as well as a slightly different take. Stop and starts, all that stuff contributes.

So to make a long story longer, don't change what you are doing. I record everything in mono in my studio other than the following instruments:

Overheads for drums and cymbals
X/Y mic'ing for acoustic guitars, drums etc
Keyboards, synths, piano
Lead guitar tracks (not necessity, but I do it anyway due to habit. That said, the tone is not in stereo as I said before. It's just two identical signals being fed in.)
Choirs/orchestra/marching band etc

Stuff like that, you can get away with stereo tracks. All others like kick drum, snare, toms, I may run multiple mic's on each drum, but they are not set up in a stereo realm. Mic on the top of a snare, mic on the bottom etc.

Rhythm guitars, always mono, bass mono, vocals mono.....an anything that needs to be processed in stereo, I can do at a later time with effects. Just remember though, nothing is true stereo unless it has two independent signals that are different from each other. Put a stereo chorus on a guitar, and you just picked up stereo imaging from the effect. The same if you added a ping pong delay. You pick up stereo from the effect, not the guitar sound. Hope this helps. :)
 
Probably the best set of presets for VH I've heard to date. Thanks a million Danny.

What pups are you using in your Carvin? Reason I asked is I tried two types of Super Strats, one with an EVH Frankenstein and the other with a DiMarzio Crunch Lab. Surprisingly, I found the Crunch Lab to give me more of that VH1 dirt/grit and was most pleasing to my ears.

Best,
Jean.

Thanks, I sure did try to make it that way. All the other VH tones I tried were always missing something. We may not be totally there, but I think we are closer than we have ever been!

The pups in the actual Carvin that did the tone match, I really don't know. It's the first one I ever got which was some time in the early 90's I believe. I went for weaker pups. The one's in the brown one you see in the video are MD 22's I believe. But the one's in the purple one that actually did the tone matches for this patch....no idea. So sorry.
 
Thanks, I sure did try to make it that way. All the other VH tones I tried were always missing something. We may not be totally there, but I think we are closer than we have ever been!

The pups in the actual Carvin that did the tone match, I really don't know. It's the first one I ever got which was some time in the early 90's I believe. I went for weaker pups. The one's in the brown one you see in the video are MD 22's I believe. But the one's in the purple one that actually did the tone matches for this patch....no idea. So sorry.

Ok thanks for the good work Danny!
 
Hi slashy,

I always record two independent tracks in mono and pan them. The only time I use stereo is for lead guitar tracks and video presentations. I only use stereo lead guitar in my recording due to sometimes wanting to record with effect. I know we live in the non-destructive world in recording today, but some plugins will not get me the sounds I can get from some of my hardware devices.

It's also a bad habit of mine due to my older DAW not supporting stereo plugins unless you recorded a stereo track. We now have stereo interleaving that allows for a mono track to auto-support stereo effects. But that wasn't always possible for me and I got used to recording lead guitar tracks in stereo. Little did I know the track isn't in stereo at all, as distortion is not a stereo effect. What was in stereo IMAGING were the effects I used. True stereo means two independent channels of slightly different information, while doing the same thing. This is why it sounds so good when we play two guitar tracks in mono and split them left/right. The human timing inconsistencies help create stereo as well as a slightly different take. Stop and starts, all that stuff contributes.

So to make a long story longer, don't change what you are doing. I record everything in mono in my studio other than the following instruments:

Overheads for drums and cymbals
X/Y mic'ing for acoustic guitars, drums etc
Keyboards, synths, piano
Lead guitar tracks (not necessity, but I do it anyway due to habit. That said, the tone is not in stereo as I said before. It's just two identical signals being fed in.)
Choirs/orchestra/marching band etc

Stuff like that, you can get away with stereo tracks. All others like kick drum, snare, toms, I may run multiple mic's on each drum, but they are not set up in a stereo realm. Mic on the top of a snare, mic on the bottom etc.

Rhythm guitars, always mono, bass mono, vocals mono.....an anything that needs to be processed in stereo, I can do at a later time with effects. Just remember though, nothing is true stereo unless it has two independent signals that are different from each other. Put a stereo chorus on a guitar, and you just picked up stereo imaging from the effect. The same if you added a ping pong delay. You pick up stereo from the effect, not the guitar sound. Hope this helps. :)

Thank you so much Danny for these answers .
It was important for me to know ;)
Have a good day my friend.
 
The one's in the video use both patches of course. Any rhythm sound with no delay from VH 1 to some songs on fair Warning will be patch I scene 4. The patch was created from tone matching Unchained. Patch I can also be used on a few 1984 songs like Panama and any others that had a more abrasive sound. It would be too much to list individual songs....you have to use your ears to hear what works best for you.

Patch II is the warmer VH sound. On this you can plat anything from VHII all through to 1984 also. The patch was tone matched from the Meanstreets intro. It's warmer than the Unchained tone even though it comes from the same album. Also, on the 1984 album, songs like Drop dead legs are not as abrasive and high-end sounding as Panama or some of the others.

If Eddie had a sound that was trebly, patch I is what you use. If it's warmer, use patch II. rhythm sounds on both patch I and II are on scene 4 and scene 7 with chorus for the 1984 era. Scene 5 and scene 8 are lead patches. The others fly in delays. Just quick off the top of my head...

Anything from VH 1: Patch I
You really got me - scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead
Ain't talkin - scene 3 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Runnin with the devil - scene 1 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Eruption - scene 5 with phaser off for first part, phaser on for the second part.
Feel your love tonight - scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead

VHII patch II
Everybody wants some - scene 1 rhythm, scene 4 lead
Beautiful Girls - scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead
Dance the night away - scene 1 rhythm...no lead in this song.
Everything else should be the same.

Anything off of women and children, scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead. If you need delays, use scene 1. Scene 3 on both patch I and patch II was created for Ain't talkin bout love. so you may never use that one other than for that song.

Fair warning will be the same as above, however, unchained will sound better with patch I scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead since the patch was create from the actual tone match of ed in this one.

Meanstreets will sound better using patch II, scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead.
Hear about it later - scene 2 for intro, scene 4 for rhythm, scene 5 for lead. You can also step on the chorus for the lead to thicken it up in that particular solo if need be as he uses one there.

Diver down: use patch II
Pretty woman - there's a little chorus on this, but it's up to you. Sometimes I use a 1984 patch for this, which would be scene 6, other times, scene 1.
Full Bug, scene 2 intro, scene 4 rhythm, scene 5 lead.
Little guitars - scene 6 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Where have all the good times gone - scene 1

1984- whatever patch works best
Jump- patch II scene 7 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Teacher- same as jump
Panama- patch I, scene 6 rhythm, scene 8 lead
Drop dead legs- scene 7 rhythm, scene 8 lead press one of the delays
I'll wait- same as drop dead

There's a start for you.
This is more than a start Danny - I really appreciate your efforts here. Thanks!
 
Great Work Danny!!
Do you have any other bands presets?? Def Leppard, Journey, etc...

Funny you mentioned journey.....my girl just begged me to cover stone in love. I copped Neal's tone via tone match and wound up liking my own personal tone better. Lol!

Yeah I got a few other tones I mess with. Nothing as authentic as the vh stuff. Got a good Lynch sound, DeMartinni, Sykes, a few blues guys like Eric Gayles and Gary Moore. But like I say, nothing remotely close like the vh stuff and nothing good enough to share.
 
Danny, I wanted to check out your patch, but I have the XL+. I know you have a thread for that particular patch, but I was curious if you've made any improvements on this patch since then (when you ported to the AX8). Are they basically the same?

Also, didn't I see on one your videos a "Rites of Petrucci" patch (or some kind of Petrucci patch)?

Thanks!
 
Danny, I wanted to check out your patch, but I have the XL+. I know you have a thread for that particular patch, but I was curious if you've made any improvements on this patch since then (when you ported to the AX8). Are they basically the same?

Also, didn't I see on one your videos a "Rites of Petrucci" patch (or some kind of Petrucci patch)?

Thanks!

No, the patches are the same with the exception of a few different controller assignments, the flange reset we have that isn't in the AX8, the definition knob decrease that I mentioned and a mixer block for the xl+. No improvements have been made.

Yeah I have s few petrucci patches and have that rite of passage tone dialed in pretty close. That entire album was available in multi track as well, so it was easy to take John's tone and tone match it. The Haas effect he uses can be achieved using our enhance block. You should be able to get John's all alone track on YouTube so you can tone match it.
 
No, the patches are the same with the exception of a few different controller assignments, the flange reset we have that isn't in the AX8, the definition knob decrease that I mentioned and a mixer block for the xl+. No improvements have been made.

Yeah I have s few petrucci patches and have that rite of passage tone dialed in pretty close. That entire album was available in multi track as well, so it was easy to take John's tone and tone match it. The Haas effect he uses can be achieved using our enhance block. You should be able to get John's all alone track on YouTube so you can tone match it.

Best VH patches I have tried in a very long time. Thank you so much for them!!!
So spot on, even when using a completely different equipment. That's amazing.

Would you mind sharing your Petrucci presets, too? Please?
If they are anywhere as good as your VH presets, I would be very, very happy with them.:)
 
tried these today - very impressed. At first I thought it might be too bright compared to most of my rock sounds but with a band they sounded great. Thanks!
 
Danny, question about your reverb when you are playing live with the tribute band. Are you planning on using that much reverb live (I assume you are the only guitarist)? Also, are you going to be running stereo to FOH?
 
Danny, question about your reverb when you are playing live with the tribute band. Are you planning on using that much reverb live (I assume you are the only guitarist)? Also, are you going to be running stereo to FOH?

I don't use that exact sound live. My studio sound and live sounds are different in terms of effect amount, drive and low end. I also don't use the panned verb/direct sound you hear in the patch. That is for authenticity and for recording only.

I am the only guitarist and most times I'm mono into a Marshall 4x12 cab. When I know I'll be running through a PA that's stereo, I'll bring more gear and run my rig in stereo.

Hope that answers your questions. :)
 
Im really enjoying this... thanks! the secret lies in the low drive of the amp reinforced by the compressor and toned by speaker cab! i love it.
 
Im really enjoying this... thanks! the secret lies in the low drive of the amp reinforced by the compressor and toned by speaker cab! i love it.

In my opinion, it all matters and there isn't one set secret. Each part contributes to the sound. If we tear it apart, we could literally list the stuff that makes up the sound.

In my opinion the two most important parts that make my patches different than others are the amp selected sounds like tubes and how the compressor is giving us that saturation that would be attributed from tape compression.

I've heard many sounds that nail Eddie's tone nearly perfect. But they all sound too transistor sounding. Copping the core tone/eq is easy. I've heard it done with PODs for years as well as two dudes that were on our forum here that wouldn't share their sounds.

Both were great sounds, but both had that fake transistor sound. Ed has pinch harms that scream, they don't screech or have that Zakk Wylde effect. Think "Intruder" or in the lead to "Meanstreets". That's tubes....part 12AX7 part power tubes from being so loud.

That said, in all my experience and trials, the 12AX7 front end is the most important as we have stuff that simulates power tubes and stuff of that nature. What we don't have much of (other than Fractal, Guitar Rig and Amplitube), are simulations of 12AX7 sounds.

Some of our amps (in my personal opinion) still need work with tube authenticity and do not have enough tube realism. Others, scare the hell out of me due to being so realistic. Whatever the case, we're blessed as Fractal users having the tools we have. The challenging part is learning how to use the stuff and how it can all work together when you connect all the right dots.

Ed's sound is one of those sounds that needs all the right elements. I don't think I have created the be all end all vh tone, but I do feel I've come the closest to having all the right pieces of the puzzle in place.....for now. :)
 
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